The Harmonium Art museuM (HAM) is a museum on

pump organ The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

s in the province of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium. It is located at the former Church of the Immaculate Conception in Klein-

Willebroek Willebroek (, old spelling: ''Willebroeck'') is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of , Heindonk, , Klein Willebroek, and Willebroek proper. In 2021, Willebroek had a total population of ...

. The collection has been brought together by Ben Roemendael. In order to be able to show the organs to the public, he founded the museum. One can see free-reed and suction-reed organs. All instruments have been disassembled, cleaned and restored. There are eighty organs all together of which sixty can still be played on.Gluseum
Harmonium Art Museum
The pump organs are originating from different countries. One suction-reed organ was built in 1872 in the United States and has two keyboards and a pipe top of

Mason & Hamlin Mason & Hamlin is a piano manufacturer based in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1854, they also manufactured a large number of pump organs during the 19th century. History 19th century Mason & Hamlin was founded in Boston, Massachuse ...

. Another, German one was made by Lindholm and has a shared left and right expression and an extension register. The museum has the largest collection of pump organs of Belgian make, like from the families Anneessens, Loret, Kerckhoff and a great many more. Beside the exposition, organ music is being performed of Belgian composers like

Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens Jacques-Nicolas (Jaak-Nicolaas) Lemmens (3 January 1823 – 30 January 1881), was an organist, music teacher, and composer for his instrument. Biography Born at Zoerle-Parwijs, near Westerlo, Belgium, Lemmens took lessons from François-Josep ...

and

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

. Other types of music are performed as well, like from a brass band or in a constellation with other musicians, like a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

being accompanied by a pump organ and a piano.Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde
Frühjahrskonzert im Harmonium-Art-Museum
, 16 March 2014

References

{{authority control Music museums in Belgium Museums in Antwerp Province Musical instrument museums Organs (music) Willebroek

See also

References